(BEDFORD) - Hoosier National Forest staff have several prescribed burns planned for this fall if weather and other factors allow. At this time there are areas planned in Brown, Orange, Crawford and Perry Counties. Each area has been identified to improve wildlife habitat or woodland restoration. Other areas may also be included later in the fall burning season.

Each burn area required a different "prescription," which determined what wind direction and speed, temperature and fuel moistures are required for any planned burn to proceed. There are a limited number of days during the year that are suitable for prescribed burning, so Hoosier NF staff are prepped and ready to take advantage of any windows that occur. If the burns are not conducted this fall and conditions are right in the winter, the Hoosier NF could possibly burn in December or January.

Each area will be closed to the public on the day of the burn and for some time after until the area is considered safe. If there are a significant number of burning snags, the area may be closed for several days for public safety. Signs will be posted along the fire line and at any logical entry points into the area. Hunters and other recreationists are asked to use caution and pay particular attention to signs posted in areas they plan to utilize.

The exact date of each burn is dependent on weather and fuel conditions. Hoosier NF staff will notify the public in the immediate area of a prescribed burn unit by letter. Anyone who would like to know specific planned dates for ignition, they can request a call from Forest dispatch when a decision to burn has been made for any planned area. In particular, people with medical issues such as asthma or emphysema who live immediately around a prescribed burn area might want to request dispatch notification.

For questions on the prescribed burns or to request notifications, please contact the Indiana Interagency Coordination Center Dispatcher at 812-547-9262. Up-to-date information and maps can also be found at .
The U.S. Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a mission of sustaining the health,
diversity and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future
generations. The Forest Service's Eastern Region includes twenty states in the Midwest and East, stretching
from Maine, to Maryland, to Missouri, to Minnesota. There are 17 national forests and one national tallgrass
prairie in the Eastern Region. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/R9.
The U.S. Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private
landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest
Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone.
Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation's clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per
year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million
forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live. For
more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/.